Michael Peltier: Collier case has statewide interest

TALLAHASSEE - Clerks of court around the state are eyeing with interest a long simmering Collier County case that may bolster their ability to remain watchdog of the public's money.

A ruling made last week in the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland appears to solidify the clerks' authority to audit county budgets and pay-outs as part of an oversight role that a majority of justices on the panel say is an integral part of the system of checks and balances.

Collier County Clerk of Court Dwight Brock may have won a battle but lost a war in his ongoing fight with Collier County commissioners over whether Brock has the right to audit the county's books. Lawmakers earlier this year approved a measure putting the county commission in charge of the clerk of court's budget.

The court ruling upheld the authority of Florida's clerks of court to investigate the status of county funds not in the actual custody of the clerks and to conduct audits of county expenditure after payments are made, the appellate court ruled in an opinion reversing a trial court decision.

The ruling is the latest chapter in a five-year battle between Brock and Collier County commissioners that began when Brock audited the county for deposits of county funds in accounts outside of his purview such as fire department auxiliaries and support groups for museums.

Commissioners countered that Brock overstepped his authority and the trial court initially agreed, prompting Brock's appeal to the second DCA.

"A public officer with the right and responsibility to maintain custody of public funds necessarily has the authority both to investigate circumstances in which public funds have wrongfully been withheld from the officer's custody and to seek to obtain custody of the withheld funds," former associate justice Charles Canady wrote in the majority opinion. "Restricting the clerk's authority to do so is inconsistent with the goal of protecting public funds from misappropriation, and it is inconsistent with the effectual and complete exercise of the clerk's authority as custodian of all county funds."

While Brock may have the authority to audit the books, he may not have the money to do so after lawmakers earlier this year passed legislation putting his budget under the purview of the county commission.

Nonetheless, the ruling is being closely watched by clerks around the state as lawmakers continue to wrangle over the relationship between two constitutionally elected officers: the clerks and county commissioners.

"This important ruling underscores the important watchdog function that clerks of court play over county revenues and expenditures," said Fred Baggett, general counsel for Florida's clerks of court. "The court found that this authority emanates from the Constitution and is further implemented by statute."

Keith Arnold, a former lawmaker who lobbied Collier commissioners' cause during the recently concluded session, said he's yet to hear from the commissioners on whether they would appeal the ruling, a mixed decision that did not completely fall the clerks' way. He expected the state's highest court may end up deciding the issue once a for all.

"I think the Florida Supreme Court is going to want to decide on the proper role of the clerks," Arnold said.